Ellen gets back from Japan tonight. She will only be here a short time, and it is almost time to go retrieve her from the Detroit Airport. I have been busy all day and haven't written anything for today's post, but I found this piece that I wrote a year or so ago as an 'assignment' for my on-again-off-again writing group (Ann, Nancy.. are you listening?).
The idea was to write a short story involving conversation, but no line of dialog can be more than three words. This is actually a true story, but my name has been changed to protect the ... well, ME! Actually, the student's name was changed too.
“Yeah, just tired.”
Jane wasn't so sure about that, but took another sip of coffee and waited.
“What about it?"
“The numbers.”
“But where?”
The idea was to write a short story involving conversation, but no line of dialog can be more than three words. This is actually a true story, but my name has been changed to protect the ... well, ME! Actually, the student's name was changed too.
9:00 a.m: Quiet. No interruptions. Professor Jane Heissenberg was enjoying her
first cup of steaming coffee and looking over some data when she heard a knock
on the door.
“Got a minute?”
Jane looked up from her desk. Standing in the doorway was the large frame
of Mark Jameson, a student in her freshman chemistry class.
“Sure Mark,” she replied, closing her research notebook and
reaching for the freshman text. She
motioned toward the chair directly opposite her own.
Mark plopped his backpack down and flopped into the
seat. He sprawled out, legs extended,
arms dangling limply at his sides, leaning so far back that he was staring at
the ceiling.
“I need help.”
“Are you ok?”
“Yeah, just tired.”
“Up late studying?”
”Morning football practice.”
“Oh.” Wondering why
he would come to see her about football practice, she took another sip of
coffee.
“Tough morning.
Sprints”
“Not a sprinter?”
He shook his head. “Guys were puking.”
“Sounds awful.”
"Yeah. Everyone."
"Really awful."
"Yeah. Everyone."
"Really awful."
“It’s worth it.”
Finally, with great effort and a lot of groaning, Mark sat
up and opened his backpack. He removed
the chemistry book and some crumpled sheets of paper. Jane was relieved to see the familiar
equations; he was indeed looking for chemistry help. Thrusting the paper in front of her, he
pointed to problem number eight and said, “No clue.”
She smiled. These
problems were really pretty easy, but students always struggled with them. She had done several examples in class. She gave him a hint. “Enthalpy of reaction?”
“What about it?"
“Products…?,”
No response.
“Products minus…”
Suddenly his face brightened. Completing the mantra that she taught the class, Mark chanted: “Products minus reactants?”
“Yes, that’s right!” She really did not understand why students
found this concept so difficult. Just sum the enthalpies of formation of the products and the enthalpies of formation of
the reactants and then subtract.
He nodded, remembering the chant, but asked, “Where are
they?”
“Where are what?”
“The numbers.”
“The enthalpies?”
“Whatever they are.”
“In your book.”
“But where?”
“Appendix C”
“Where is that?”
He opened the book and she helped him locate the data tables
in the appendix of his book. As he
scrolled down the columns of numbers, he found the enthalpy one of the products
and wrote it down. He closed the book.
Jane said, “You’re not done.”
Jane said, “You’re not done.”
“I need more?”
Pointing to the chemical equation, she said “All of them.”
Mark was astonished. “All
of them?”
“Well, yes…”
“There are six!”
“Well, yes….”
“This really sucks”
“Worse than puking!?”
Mark considered this question and as he remembered the
carnage of the morning football practice, he smiled and then laughed.
“Ok. You win.”
Today I am grateful for Ellen's arrival home from Japan. She's heading back soon, but both of my kids will be home for a week! How cool is that.
Today I am grateful for Ellen's arrival home from Japan. She's heading back soon, but both of my kids will be home for a week! How cool is that.
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